Emergency Medicine Flashcards
Gastric lavage can be done up to ____ hours?
2
Gastric lavage removes _____ % at 1 hour
____ % at 2 hours
50% pills 1 hour
15% pills 2 hours
_____ is always the wrong answer in the emergency apartment when it comes to toxic ingestion?
Ipecac (delays admin of antidotes)
Cathartics like sorbitol (speeding up GI transit time does not block absorption)
Fluids + Diuretics- does more harm (pulm edema)
When might gastric lavage be dangerous?
AMS - can cause aspiration
Caustic Ingestion- causes burning of esophagus and oropharynx
best initial management of altered mental status of unclear etiology in ED is?
opiate antagonist and glucose
Naloxone and glucose work instantaneously and have no adverse effects
Toxicity of acetaminophen occurs with ___ - ____ grams. Fatality may occur with ____ - ____ grams?
8-10: toxic
12-15: fatal
If a clearly toxic amount of acetaminophen has been ingested (8-10 grams) what do you give?
N-acetylcysteine
If overdose of acetaminophen was over 24 hours ago what can you do?
no therapy
If amount of acetaminophen ingestion is unclear- what should you do?
get a drug level
Is charcoal contraindicated with N-acetylcysteine?
NO
Tinnitus, resp alkalosis and metabolic acidosis are the key to diagnosing?
ASA toxicity
Treatment for ASA tox?
Alkalinize urine- increases rate of ASA excretion
When you reverse benzo ingestion, you remove suppression of _____ drug toxicity?
TCA (Benzos have a protective effect on TCA toxicity)
Treatment of TCA toxicity?
sodium bicarb. Bicarb protects heart against arrhythmia.
Does bicarb increase urinary excretion of TCA as it does for ASA?
NO
Most common cause of death in fires?
CO poisoning
CO poisoning presents like what other pathology?
anemia (functionally the same thing)
What type of blood gas would you see with CO poison?
carbon monoxide prevents release of oxygen to tissues so you see a lactic acidosis
Most accurate test for CO poison?
level of carboxyhemoglobin (routine oximetry will be falsely normal)
treatment for CO poison?
100% O2. severe treated with hyperbaric O2.
Treatment when CO poision presents with CNS symptoms, cardiac symptoms, metabolic acidosis (any of these)?
hyperbaric oxygen
What drugs can cause oxidized hemoglobin (methemoglobinemia) (Hgb locked into the ferric state)?
benzocaine, other anesthetics, nitrites, nitroglycerin, dapsone
CO poison: blood is abnormally _____
Methemoglobinemia: blood is abnormally ____
- Red
- Brown
Best test for methemoglobinemia
methemoglobin level. PO2 is normal on blood gas!
Best initial therapy for methemoglobinemia? Most effective therapy?
- 100% oxygen
- Methylene blue
how does methylene blue work?
decreases half life of methemoglobin